Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Reverse of Arcadia
by EagleTsubasa
Summary: Stardust Accelerator sequel. A member of the Arcadia Movement with no memory of who she once was, Epsilon finds herself caught up in a war between the forces of good and evil. With Duel Spirits appearing in the human world, the Herald may be the only one with the answers as an old foe rises again... Very slight Yusei/OC. References to GX series 4 (undubbed).
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Epsilon

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Reverse of Arcadia._

_5D's_

_Please note that I have replaced Seria (the scientist) in this with a character that I feel that I could work with a little better considering the fact that I can now create her personality as opposed to sticking to what I've learned about Seria from the brief moments that we actually see her. So, please enjoy the story and thanks for sticking with me this long!_

_5D's_

"… Um… Where is this…? Where are we going…?" I asked hesitantly as I followed the woman in front of me down the sand-coloured hallway, the walls of which were tiled, the sand-coloured stone floor clicking with every step we took as bright lights shone down from the ceiling. She wore an odd uniform that consisted of a white long sleeve shirt and was covered by a long black robe with a high collar, gold trimming and a long pink patch down the front and back. Her medium length, wavy, light brown hair lay scattered over the tops of her shoulders.

Hearing my uncertain voice, the woman turned to me with a small smile, her chocolate brown eyes twinkling behind her silver, rectangular, wire frame glasses which somewhat reflected the light of the hallway. She pushed the glasses up her pale, freckled face and paused.

"Sorry for not explaining this to you. You must be so confused…" she smiled softly. "My name is Chika. I'm a scientist here at the Arcadia Movement. I was the one who was with you when you woke up."

"But… what's the Arcadia Movement…?" I frowned, still confused.

"The Arcadia Movement is a place of safety. It is a place where people who are shunned by society can come to live in peace…" Chika explained.

"… S-shunned…? W-was I shunned…?" I stammered, some form of realisation sinking in.

Chika's expression became one of sadness. "I'm afraid that we all were… You see, like all of us, you have a very special talent… A talent that society cannot accept… You're what we like to call a Psychic Duelist…"

"A… Psychic Duelist…?" I inquired, my frown deepening.

"Yes. It's a very unique talent that very few people possess. Basically, you have the unique ability to bring Duel Monsters to life…" She paused, a though occurring to her. A worried look crossed her features. "You _do_ know what Duel Monsters is, don't you…?" She began to stare at my left arm.

Following her gaze, my eyes fell on the contraption on my arm. It was a large silver device with two large, red, jewel-like objects set into it… Duel Disk… Those words seemed familiar… The cards that were placed in the Duel Disk were just as familiar…

Just as I raised my arm to get a better look at the contraption in question, I shock ran through my head and I dropped to my knees with a gasp of pain, my hands flinging up to grab my head. Chika was beside me in an instant, a worried expression marring her features.

"Are you alright?!" she asked quickly, her voice tinged with concern.

It took a few seconds until the pain dulled and, even after that, it still took me another few seconds to find my voice again. I slowly nodded and raised my head with a slight wince, the aftereffects of the crushing headache temporarily taking hold of me before fading away.

"… Y-yeah…" I stammered, taken aback by what had just happened.

"What just happened…?" Chika inquired breathlessly.

"… It was just a headache…" I confirmed with a small nod as I made a move to stand up. Chika supported me as I pulled myself to my feet.

"A headache? It must have been a bad one…" Chika sighed as I stepped away from her, feeling ready to support myself. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine… Just a little shaken…" I smiled sheepishly.

Chika sighed again and placed her hands on her hips. "If you say so… You still didn't answer my question, though…"

"… You're… question…?" I echoed, the headache having pushed all other thoughts from my mind.

"Yes. I asked you if you knew what Duel Monsters is," Chika frowned in something akin to exasperation.

"Uh…" Pausing, I looked down at my Duel Disk, noting the sudden clarity of my mind. My Duel Disk… My cards… I… knew Duel Monsters… I slowly nodded. "Yeah… I've played it before… I think…"

Chika smiled slightly. "Good. At least you remember that much."

"Is Duel Monsters important?" I inquired as we began to walk again.

Chika nodded. "It is. As I said earlier, we Psychic Duelists are shunned because we can bring Duel Monsters cards to life."

"You can do it, too?" I asked, staring at her back as she walked down the hallway in front of me.

"Everyone in this building can. Some people outside the building can, as well. This movement was created to protect us as well as the people who aren't a part of this movement. It's our goal to take those people in and allow them to live in safety and develop the special ability that they were so fortunate to be born with…" Chika explained. From my position, I could see a gentle smile slowly appearing on her face.

I felt my face light up with a smile. "That sounds like a brilliant goal to have… So… who started the… Arcadia Movement…?" I asked, trying to remember the name of the organisation that I had now apparently joined.

"That would be Sayer," Chika informed me. "He was the man that you met earlier."

I nodded in understanding before falling silent again, running over the little that I knew about my situation. My name was Epsilon. I was a Psychic Duelist. I was a part of the Arcadia Movement as of today. That was all fine. There was one question, however, that refused to go unanswered. Steeling myself, I spoke up hesitantly, cringing as my voice trembled.

"Um… Chika…?" I began, attempting to get Chika's attention. The freckled girl stopped and turned, her eyes filled with confusion and curiosity.

"Is something the matter?" she queried, a look of concern crossing her features as she noticed my worried expression that refused to disappear no matter how much I tried.

"Well… I was wondering…" Placing my hand on my chest in a vain attempt to steady my racing heart and let out a sigh, hoping to calm myself down, terrified by the prospect that I may have been about to hear something that I didn't want to. I let my eyes travel upwards from their position, turning my gaze from the floor to meet Chika's eyes which were partially obscured by the reflection of the lights above us in her glasses, hiding her expression from me. Taking another sigh, I continued. "… Do you… know what happened to me…?" I asked quietly.

Chika frowned. "What do you mean?" she inquired, seeking an elaboration.

"I mean…" I paused, figuring out what I was going to say. After a few seconds, I spoke the first thing that came to mind. "… Do you know how I lost my memory…?"

Chika's head drooped, the lenses of her glasses becoming clear as she turned away from the light source above us. Her eyes took on a sad, apologetic appearance and she began to shift uncomfortably under my wavering gaze. She glanced up at me, her mouth opening as if she wanted to tell me something, but she couldn't squeeze the words out. Eventually, she let out a sigh and looked me in the eye, her expression becoming one of sympathy.

"I-I'm truly sorry, but… I-I don't know… I-I don't even think that Sayer knows…" she stammered uncomfortably. Without another word, she turned abruptly and began to walk away at a brisk pace, leaving me to catch up.

_ 'Is… she hiding something from me…?'_ I pondered as my eyes fixed onto her back, watching her tense form as she strode in front of me. I couldn't put my finger on the reason why, but I got the feeling that she wasn't telling me the truth, or at least not the whole truth. The stammering… The way that she tensed up like that… _'No…'_ I finally thought.

Deciding that it was my mind playing tricks on me due to the shock of my situation, I shook my head quickly, attempting to drive the thought from my mind. Running a hand through my hair with a tired exhalation, I focused on the scientist in front of me and hurried after her down the hallway, my mind darkened by doubt that I refused to accept.

The seconds soon stretched into minutes as I followed Chika, passing by many metal sliding doors, each of which had a light shining above it. Having seen so many of these on our journey down the corridors, I had begun to stop wondering about them, or even noticing them, for that matter. It was when we stopped outside one of these doors, however, that they came to my attention once more.

Chika stepped forwards and the door automatically slid open with a quiet whoosh, allowing us to step inside. I followed Chika apprehensively, my mind racing with the thoughts of what was about to happen. The scientist in front of me, however, appeared to be unperturbed by the situation, not that I had expected her to be bothered.

Chika stepped aside, allowing me to see the rest of the room. It was sparsely furnished, containing only two wooden beds that were covered with light brown bed sheets, one on either side of the room, a set of metal drawers which sat beside the bed to my left and a wooden bench which sat at the foot of the bed to my right. The windows were covered by Venetian blinds, the floor was covered in a rough green carpet and the walls were painted a dirty purple colour.

The next things that my eyes fell on were the two young men who were around my age who each sat on one of the beds. On the bed to my left sat a man with dark brown hair whose fringe curled upwards. His skin was noticeably tanned and a friendly smile adorned his face. A pair of small, round glasses sat upon his nose which he pushed up his nose to take a better look at Chika and me as we walked in.

The other man had light brown hair, pale skin, a long nose and a slight scowl plastered on his face. Both were wearing the same uniform that Chika was wearing – white long sleeve shirts that were covered by long black robes with high collars, gold trimmings and a long, wide pink stripe down the front and back. I noted that Chika's robes had a green stripe as opposed to pink, however, and briefly wondered if it was a symbol of rank in the Arcadia Movement.

My attention was dragged away from this seemingly insignificant piece of information as Chika began to speak to me. She gestured towards the room and looked me in the eye. I turned to face her, noting her kind smile as she started to speak. The two men turned to listen to her.

"This is where you'll be staying from now on," Chika informed me with a smile. "If you need any help, these two will be able to help you. You should all be receiving further instructions from Sayer very soon. Good luck with your mission."

With that and a courteous nod directed at the two other men in the room, Chika gave me a final smile and left the room, the steel automatic door sliding shut with a whoosh behind her, leaving me alone in the room with the two men. It wasn't long before they both stood up and approached me, a smile still plastered on the tanned man's face and it wasn't until the other man approached me that I noticed a very small, almost invisible smile that he was directing towards me. At the sight of his smile, something stirred inside of me – a sense of familiarity, I suppose – but I was quick to supress it, deciding to focus on the matter at hand which I deemed to be far more important.

The tanned man spoke up first. "I suppose that you're new," he smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose. He held out his hand which I promptly took. "My name is Okita," he told me.

"I'm Liquid. It's a pleasure to meet you," the other man informed me, offering me his hand which I took after shaking Okita's as I hurriedly tried to recall my own unusual name.

"I'm Epsilon," I told them, the name swimming up to the front of my mind.

"Epsilon?" Okita frowned slightly, the smile never leaving his face. "That's an odd name…"

"Don't tease the girl…" Liquid muttered irritably.

"No! It's alright!" I exclaimed, waving my hands in front of my face defensively. "It's pretty unusual!"

"See?" Okita smirked.

"Stop that, Okita…" Liquid mumbled.

Okita let out a chuckle. "Nevertheless, I believe that we'll get along smashingly… We only just got here, though, so we may not be much help, unfortunately…"

"So, we're just going to have to wait here…?" I inquired, watching as Liquid nodded in response to my question.

"It's tedious, is it not…?" Okita chuckled. "While we wait, how about a Duel?"

"Not a chance…" Liquid stated, shaking his head and crossing his arms. "Our powers will just damage the room…"

"We can control our powers, can't we?" Okita responded, his smile never disappearing.

"… Alright…" Liquid sighed. "I don't see why not…" I watched as his small smile quickly returned and his eyes met mine. "One condition, though… I get the next Duel…"

At the prospect of a Duel, the only thing that I could remember, I felt myself shivering in excitement as I turned to face Okita, ready to begin at any moment. I walked to the other side of the room and, turning towards Okita who had done the same things as I had, I raised my Duel Disk and drew five cards. Allowing the excitement to wash over me, Okita and I began.

"DUEL!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: My Precious Darkness

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Reverse of Arcadia._

_5D's_

_(Jaden's P.O.V.)_

"Stop!" I bellowed as the Duel Spirit in front of me only seemed to get further and further away. Above the streets of New Domino City, a high speed chase was occurring, although my part in it all wasn't as interesting to the people below as the Spirit that I was chasing, the wind that was whipping past my face and getting into my eyes preventing me from discerning the true identity of the being before me.

"_Left, Jaden!"_ a voice cried out in my mind.

Recognising it as Yubel, I immediately reacted, swerving sideways, careful not to catch my demonic-looking wings that I had gained through Yubel on the buildings on either side as the road. Just as I managed to get out of the way, a stream of purple energy shot past me, kicking up strong winds that nearly caused me to veer into the buildings beside me.

"Thanks, Yubel…" I muttered as the wind died down.

Yubel appeared to ignore me. _"It's now or never!"_ she shouted over the noise of the wind that rushed past my ears. _"It's gone rogue! You'll have to attack!"_

I nodded grimly. This would hurt it, but there was no other way around this. The Spirit would be safe either way. I reared backwards until I was flying vertically – although still at an incredible pace – and held my right hand out, holding onto my right arm with my left hand, feeling the familiar rush of power build up in my body and seep through my pores, shrouding my hand in pitch-black darkness. Knowing that my eyes had begun to glow as Yubel's would – my right eye orange and my left eye green – I let out a grunt as a massive, powerful beam of sheer darkness shot out from my hand.

However, just as I had done so, I became painfully aware of the purple energy that was hurtling towards me. Unable to dodge, slow down or bring a shield up in time, I soon found splitting pain after being hit in the chest with the powerful energy blast at high speed just as my own attack hit home, causing the Spirit in front of me to shatter into fragments of light that slowly drifted away, sending the Spirit back to wherever it came from.

As for me, though, I found myself hurtling out of the sky at a pace faster than I could control. Pain washed over me as I finally ploughed into a building and I fell to the ground, wincing slightly in my semi-conscious state as rubble rained down on me, my wings glowing a dark purple before finally disappearing in sparkles of purple light. I vaguely noted the sound of approaching police cars as the police finally caught up with me and, eventually, I felt a hand on my shoulder and a faint, muffled voice called out to me before my own precious darkness washed over me… and I willingly surrendered to it…

I wasn't quite sure how long it was until I began to awaken, stirring slightly as the cover of darkness was pulled away from me and my consciousness slowly began return. A soft, rhythmic beeping finally reached my ears, pulling me from sleep and back into a world of pain. I must have grunted, because something attracted the attention of whoever was beside me. I heard a tapping noise as someone put their hands on the rails of the hospital bed that I could feel myself lying on, my head sinking into its soft pillows – a sensation that was not unfamiliar to me. Bandages had been wrapped around my head and I could feel more wrapped around parts of my arms, legs and torso.

"… Jaden…?" a distant voice called out to me.

'_Huh…'_ I thought groggily, my mind struggling to catch up to my body. _'… That… sounds familiar…'_

Forcing my eyes open, I struggled to focus my blurred vision in the dim light of the room and identify the person who stood over me. When I saw the person's black hair and pale skin, I immediately identified who it was, even though I couldn't see their face. Nonetheless, I felt the need to make sure. I swallowed heavily, noting my dry, painful throat and attempted to speak.

"… Ugh… T-That you, Chazz…?" I croaked, pain flaring up as I spoke, momentarily forgetting grammar in favour of grinding out the words that I needed to say as quickly as possible.

"Yeah… It's me…" Chazz responded, a hint of his usual stubborn nature creeping into his voice.

"… What happened…?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper as I attempted to avoid another wave of pain.

"You got shot out of the sky again," Chazz told me bluntly.

"But…" I paused, catching my breath as pain wracked my body once again.

"Take it easy," Chazz grunted. "You crashed into a building and got almost completely buried in rubble. They had to dig you out. You hit your head pretty hard, too."

"… Huh…" I muttered, trying to make sense of things.

"Yubel told me earlier that she was going inside you to rest. She couldn't heal you as she was," Chazz informed me. "You'll be stuck like this for a while." There were a few seconds of silence before Chazz finally spoke up again. "Are you in much pain?"

"… Yeah…" I admitted without thinking.

Chazz made a move to get up. "Do you want me to get a doctor?" he asked.

"… No…" I told him, watching with clearing vision as he slowly sat back down on the hard plastic seat beside my bed.

It was at that point that I managed to get a much better look at him. Much like the rest of our little group, Chazz had aged significantly, his hair turning slightly grey as opposed to the jet black that it had once been and wrinkles were beginning to show themselves across his forehead and around his mouth.

His beloved black coat still remained over the purple shirt and black trousers that he had normally worn ever since we were young, despite the fact that the coat had become even more tattered and worn than it originally was.

If I had to say so, I'd say that the years had done wonders for his personality. Despite the fact that he was still as stubborn as a mule, he was still a good friend and he always did his best for others whenever it was within his power with nothing more than a sarcastic complaint. It wouldn't have been the first time that he had come to visit me in hospital.

Chazz rubbed his eyes, obviously bothered by the dimming light. He glanced towards the wall and let out a sigh. "Hold on a second. I'm going to turn on the light," he told me as he stood up and walked towards the light switch.

Within a few seconds, a sharp click sounded the lights had been turned on, chasing my encroaching darkness from the room. Unable to quell the slight pang of annoyance that stirred in my chest, I got to work, getting on with the task of sitting up, taking in the white walls and white tiled floor of the room. There was a window to my right, an automatic door to the lower left of the room, a set of wooden drawers to the right of my bed and a table to the left. An overhead light shone from above, driving my darkness from the room.

"Are you alright?" Chazz asked as he sat back down again.

I found my gaze becoming directed towards the dimming light outside the window, noting the Moon's presence in the sky, cutting through my encroaching night. "… Yeah…" I responded quietly, fixated on the view outside the hospital window.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chazz frown and turn his head towards the window, most likely to see what I was looking at. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned back towards me. "So, how's your leg?" he asked.

I noticeably flinched, the subject taking me off guard. I didn't want to talk about that. Not at all. "How's the pro-Dueling going?" I quickly asked, swallowing heavily, refusing to meet his slightly-disinterested gaze.

Chazz seemed taken aback, but seemed to get the message quickly. Turning his eyes towards the ceiling, he began to think. "Alright, I suppose. I'm doing well. I'm scheduled to Duel against Sy next week. I never thought I'd see the young'uns so excited to see old men Duel," he smirked as I looked back at him.

"Don't put us down. We're not that old, yet," I smiled slightly.

Chazz scoffed. "Do you really have the right to say that? You're 51," he reminded me.

"I'm still young," I protested half-heartedly. "Just because everyone else is younger in contrast with me, that doesn't mean that I'm old."

Chazz suddenly decided that he was bored with our conversation and decided to take it in a different direction. "How's it going between you and Jesse?" he asked with a slight cough as if attempting to disguise what he had just said.

I froze at the sound of that name. Feeling something stirring inside me, I recognised Yubel's presence and felt the grand majority of my pain melt away. Spotting my walking stick that was hooked over the railings on the right side of my bed, I immediately grabbed it and slowly turned around in the bed, careful not to hurt myself any further and fully intent on getting up.

"H-hey! Don't hurt yourself!" Chazz frowned, standing up, fully intent on stopping me.

I pushed past him and made my way to the window, staring at the dimming world outside where my darkness was overcoming the light. Forcing it back. Winning. It was… beautiful… and I was cut off from it by a layer of glass and this… this _light!_ The light in the room now bothered me more than I could ever say and, without thinking, I allowed words to flow off my tongue like water, my tone one of disappointment, sadness and maybe even a little loneliness.

"… Chazz…?" I began, gaining his attention as he approached me from behind. I reached up to place my left hand on the glass that separated me from the outside world as he let out a soft grunt, confirming that he was listening. I paused for a few seconds, feeling Chazz's gaze boring into the back of my head. "… Why do you shun me…?"

I heard Chazz take a step back, his reflection that showed in the smooth glass revealing his shocked expression. He seemed to pale further. I heard him swallow heavily and he took a step forward, attempting to get over the shock that my words caused.

"S-shun…? What are you talking about? I don't shun you," Chazz grinned nervously. In his reflection, I could see a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

Despite my slight surprise at his reaction, I continued. "… I've said it before… The darkness is me… Why must you _mortals_ insist on driving me away…?" I spat out, memory after memory playing over in my mind, each worse than the last and each one connected to… _that_ man…! Nonetheless, my voice remained quiet, never escalating to a shout.

I heard Chazz sigh in irritation. "You aren't _still_ annoyed about that, are you?" he groaned, regaining his nerve.

The grip that I had on my walking stick tightened, the wood of the handle groaning under the strain. I failed to notice, my mind elsewhere. I felt myself begin to shake with anger. Power welled up inside me and released into the air. The minutes passed as my power built up and up, gathering in the air, shrouding the light and darkening the room significantly until…

_Smash!_

… The room went dark, shards of the light bulb fell to the floor with a quiet tinkling noise, drowning the room in darkness. I heard Chazz take a few panicked steps backwards before quickly composing himself. I wasn't going to harm him. I had no fight left in me and he knew that, but now that the lights were out, I could properly see my reflection in the glass and the cause of Chazz's odd behaviour around me became apparent.

Bright golden eyes that cut through the darkness that surrounded us stared back at me from the glass, their gaze filled with animosity. When had I last been this angry? When had I last been this… jealous…? I couldn't remember, nor did I attempt to try to remember for very long.

Chazz spoke up, refusing to let this go any further. "This isn't you talking, Jaden. That's only the Supreme King," he tried to convince himself, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"… I _am_ the Supreme King…" I quietly reminded him.

Chazz tried another tactic. "What's your wife going to think about all of this? What about your children? Would they be proud of you like this?"

I didn't answer – a habit that I picked up during my third year of Duel Academy, around the time that I came back from Dark World. So many years later, everyone had figured out that that meant, 'You already know the answer. Why are you asking me?' I didn't like to be asked unnecessary questions. Therefore, I remained silent.

Chazz let out an exasperated sigh. Throwing his hands up in the air in defeat, he appeared to give up and turned to leave, his feet crunching on the broken glass on the floor. Deeming words to be useless at that point, he walked out the door and quietly closed it behind him without another word.

I felt myself calming down and the golden eyes in the glass faded. I took a deep breath to calm myself. As much as I hated to admit it, Chazz's words had forced me to think, although it wasn't quite what he had wished for me to contemplate.

I found myself thinking of the past. The not-so-distant past, to be precise. Back to when my little boy left. Back to when my little girl went missing. Neither were pleasant memories and I had done my best to suppress them.

Something during recent events had struck me as surprising. It was a rather welcoming revelation, actually. It was something – or someone – who had caught my eye. I couldn't be certain that it was the person that I thought that it was, but the resemblance was uncanny in more ways than one. I found myself staring at the darkened sky, mumbling to myself with a slight smile as I watched the first stars of my night twinkling above New Domino city, stretching far into the distance.

"… Daichi… Hitomi… What would you think about him now…?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Duel

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Reverse of Arcadia._

**5D's**

_(Epsilon's P.O.V.)_

**(Epsilon: 4000/Okita: 4000)**

"Ladies first!" Okita smiled, gesturing towards me with his hand in some form of chivalry.

Nodding, I reached for the card on top of my Deck. "Alright, then! I draw!"

I shouted as I drew my first card. I turned the card over to check it before deciding that it was of no use to me at that moment. Placing the card in my hand, I glanced over at the other cards that I held, making a decision about what to use. I picked up one of the cards and played it.

"To start things off, I'll Summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky **(ATK: 1300 DEF: 1000) **in Attack Mode!" I declared with a slight smile.

I watched as a chubby young boy with black hair and a perpetual blush who wore a white shirt and black shorts—both of which were too small for him—appeared in front of me. With a flurry of feathers, his white angel wings flapped and his wooden sandals touched down on the ground. Crossing his arms, the arrogant-looking child shot an uninterested glance in Okita's direction as if waiting for him to make a move. However, it was not Okita's turn, yet. There was more than I had to do.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card Poison of the Old Man!" I announced as I played a card from my hand.

The card materialised on the field to show an old man in a red cloak with gold trimming, a sly smile crossing his face. In his hands were two glass bottles with long necks, each filled with glowing, bubbling, steaming liquid, one a green colour and the other a purple colour. I held out my hand as the green bottle appeared in my hand and Okita did the same, the purple bottle appearing in his own. It was an odd sensation, like the cool glass of the bottle was really touching against my hand, slowly warming with each passing second. Were these the powers that Chika was talking about?

Nevertheless, I continued on. "This card allows me to make a choice. Either I gain 1200 Life Points, or you lose 800 Life Points," I explained, watching as Okita narrowed his eyes suspiciously, pondering which choice I was going to make. I didn't keep him waiting. "I don't need any more Life Points at this point. I choose to deal damage to you!"

Okita sighed and raised the glass bottle to his lips as my own bottle of potion disappeared, disintegrating into particles of light which floated upwards and disappeared. Hesitating for a few seconds, he eventually made up his mind and let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Oh, well… Cheers…" he muttered sarcastically.

Tipping the bottle up, Okita downed its bubbling, steaming contents, his face screwing up in disgust. The poison drained, the bottle disappeared in the same manner as mine had. Wiping his lips with the back of his hand, Okita shuddered in revulsion before clutching his chest with a pained grunt, wincing as his Life Points were taken away.

"That wasn't pleasant…" he muttered, letting out a sigh as the pain passed.

"I end my turn," I declared as Okita composed himself again wiping a bead of sweat away from his face.

**(Epsilon: 4000/Okita: 3200)**

"Alright, then!" Okita began. "I draw!" Drawing his card, he placed it into his hand and picked up another card. "I activate the Spell Card Blue Medicine!" he declared.

A card that displayed a green clay jug with intricate golden designs and a wine glass with a metal bottom, the underside of which was covered in designs similar to that of the jug, appeared on the field. The glass appeared in Okita's hand, the jug floating beside him as it poured a blue liquid into the glass. Swirling the thick, blue liquid around in the glass, Okita lifted his eyes to look at me as the jug shattered into fragments of light.

"This Spell Card allows me to increase my Life Points by 400!" Okita explained before draining the contents of the glass, his face twisting again from the disgusting taste as his Life Points replenished again.

I laughed in amusement. "Have you had enough of drinking disgusting potions yet?"

Okita shuddered and let out a grunt of discomfort. "Quite, thanks…" he muttered with a sigh before regaining his composure. "Now, I Summon Divine Dragon Ragnarok **(ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000) **in Attack Mode!" he declared, slamming a card onto his Duel Disk.

The sound of crackling electricity and rolling thunder filled the room as the ceiling became cloaked in dark clouds, holographic lightning striking the carpet, leaving no marks to prove that it had. Slowly, the coils of a large, serpentine dragon began to decent from the clouds, its scales glowing with an odd purple aura that rose from its body like smoky tendrils. The dragon wrapped its long, winding body in a circle around Okita, leaving only his head visible, and let out a roar, almost as if it was protecting him, the clouds slowly disappearing from above us.

"Next, I'll have my Divine Dragon Ragnarok attack your Absorbing Kid from the Sky!" Okita declared.

With a mighty roar, the shimmering dragon's massive coils began to writhe and shift as the clouds began to return. Thunder began to roll and lightning flashed, striking the ground here and there, yet never leaving a scorch mark. Despite being wary of the lightning, that was all the proof that I needed to see that Okita wasn't using any of its powers which somewhat put me at ease.

Suddenly, a bright flash lit up the clouds above my monster. Shielding my eyes, over a roll of thunder, I was able to hear Absorbing Kid's cry of pain and the resulting explosion as a bolt of lightning struck the monster, reducing it to mere particles of light which soon disappeared along with the clouds above us.

I gritted my teeth as my Life Points fell. It wasn't by much, but it still left me with no monsters on my side of the field. I glanced down at my hand, unable to see anything that would help me. Even if the opponent's monster only had 1500 Attack Points, if I didn't get something to at least defend myself with, never mind defeat it, Ragnarok would be attacking me directly. However, I was pulled from my train of thoughts as Okita spoke up.

"Well, there's nothing else that I can do. Your move," he declared with a smirk, happy that he was in the lead, if not in Life Points, then in what cards he had.

**(Epsilon: 3800/Okita: 3600)**

I braced myself as I placed my fingers on the top card of my deck. "My turn! I draw!" I removed the top card from my Deck and turned it over, letting out a sigh of relief as I saw what card I had drawn. "I Summon Blade Knight **(ATK: 1600 DEF: 1000)** in Attack Mode!" I stated confidently as I placed my card onto my Duel Disk.

Within seconds, a tall knight appeared on the field in a flash of light which reflected brilliantly off of his shining silver armour. As the light died down, he let left arm fall to his side, the sword that was in his right hand obviously being favoured over the shield that was attached to his left arm. With a cry, he slashed the air in front of him as if in warning before crouching down slightly as if he was ready to strike.

Even from where I was standing, I could see Okita grit his teeth in annoyance. He could do nothing to protect his monster. With a slight smirk of triumph, I quickly raised my hand and gestured towards Okita's monster. Okita averted his eyes as I gave my orders.

"Blade Knight! Destroy his Divine Dragon Ragnarok!" I commanded.

Blade Knight immediately complied, leaping into the air at blinding speed. In a flash, his sword sliced through Ragnarok, the dragon writhing and roaring in pain in response, lightning flashing in the clouds that had once again appeared above us. Thunder roared, almost drowning out Ragnarok's final cry before it exploded into fragments of light which fell to the ground and disappeared.

"That's all I'll do for now. It's your move," I told him, lowering my hand.

**(Epsilon: 3800/Okita: 3500)**

To my surprise, Okita sighed and smiled bitterly. "It's my turn. I draw." He smiled half-heartedly as he drew his card. "I Summon my Dark Rabbit **(ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500)** in Defence Mode," he stated slowly.

No sooner than he said this than a large, dark blue, cartoon-like rabbit with blue and yellow armour hopped onto the field, a blade with a green hilt strapped to his side. He let out a goofy laugh before kneeling down onto his card, his large, white-gloved hands crossed over his chest in a defensive position as he turned a light shade of blue, signifying that he was in Defence Mode.

"It's your move," Okita told me.

**(Epsilon: 3800/Okita: 3500)**

I frowned in confusion. Why did he look so defeated? It was almost as if he knew that he was going to lose. Granted, his field wasn't looking too good with no Spells or Traps and a monster that couldn't stand up to mine. Nevertheless, I still reached for my Deck, eyeing him carefully as I did so. When his defeated look didn't change, I decided to focus on the Duel at hand and I took the top card from my Deck. Seeing it, I immediately played it.

"I Summon Apocatequil **(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200)** in Attack Mode!" I declared, placing the card on my Duel Disk.

Immediately, the little reddish and purple wooden tiki-like monster clad in white robes hopped onto the field in a flash of light, madly waving his yellow rake-like staff which was decorated with small lightning bolts, his golden necklace and anklet jingling as he did so.

I gestured towards my Blade Knight. "Blade Knight! Attack his Dark Rabbit!"

Blade Knight leapt into the air with a cry, his armour flashing as he did so. Swinging his sword up, he fell straight towards Dark Rabbit, his blade pointed at the chuckling rabbit. Seeing my knight's descent, the rabbit began to panic slightly, letting out a scream of fear and pain as Blade Knight's sword penetrated his armour, causing him to shatter into shards of light which quickly disappeared.

"Next, I'll have Apocatequil attack you directly!" I declared as Blade Knight returned to my side of the field.

Apocatequil didn't waste any time as it charged forwards, its wooden staff raised. Okita instinctively covered his face with his hands, cringing as Apocatequil's staff phased through him and his Life Points fell. He slowly lowered his arms as Apocatequil returned to my side of the field.

"I end my turn," I told him with a slight frown, still suspicious of what was going on.

**(Epsilon: 3800/Okita: 1700)**

With a defeated expression, Okita smiled bitterly, removing a card from the top of his Deck. "It's my turn. I draw," he stated bluntly. Briefly glancing at the card, Okita slumped even further, "I end my turn."

**(Epsilon: 3800/Okita: 1700)**

My eyes widened in shock. "Are you throwing the Duel?!" I cried in shock.

Okita smiled knowingly. "I'll explain it all later. Right now, though, you have a Duel to finish."

As much as I hated to admit it, Okita was right. Liquid was waiting for a turn to Duel me. It wouldn't be fair to keep him waiting. Glancing over at Liquid, I saw him sigh and shake his head in disappointment. Did he know that this was going to happen? Groaning in defeat, I continued the Duel.

"Alright, then... Apocatequil. Finish this," I muttered quietly, just loud enough for the Duel Disk to pick up my voice and spur my monster into action.

I watched as Apocatequil leaped forward, his staff flailing wildly before hitting Okita. The young man fell to the floor on impact, the hologram startling him enough to trip over his own feet in an attempt to dodge the attack. With a grunt, Okita's Life Points fell to 0 and I became the winner of the Duel, although I wasn't very proud of it.

**(Epsilon: 3800/Okita: 0)**

Before I could say anything, Liquid let out another sigh. "Another dud, huh?"

"I wouldn't say 'dud'. I feel like I'm on the right track," Okita responded with a nervous smile, taking his Deck from his Duel Disk, his eyes fixed on it.

"I beg to differ..." Liquid chuckled.

"Wait... What's going on...?" I asked, butting into the conversation. Both Liquid and Okita looked up at me.

"Ah. Right. Sorry," Okita began with a nervous laugh. "I'll explain. To be honest, I had a feeling that it would happen. The Deck was a trial run."

"Wait... So... you're still constructing your Deck...?" I responded, dumbfounded by the idea that someone would use an unfinished Deck in a Duel.

Okita simply nodded. "Yes. I'm attempting to construct a better one. I tried to focus on healing, but that obviously wasn't enough. I had no Synchro Monsters or monsters to deal with more powerful monsters like yours. I also had no Spell or Trap Cards that could reverse a situation where a more powerful monster was Summoned," he explained.

"So, it's a dud, then..." Liquid sighed mockingly.

"But... why would you use a Deck like that in a Duel...?" I inquired, ignoring Liquid.

"It helps me to understand how well it works. Now that I've tested it, I know what needs to be fixed and what doesn't. Unfortunately, I don't think that healing and I are incredibly compatible..." Okita reached up to rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Oh... Right... I think I get it..." I responded quietly. It made sense. The best way to understand how a Deck works is to test it. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to understand it. That was what I had derived from what Okita was saying.

"Either way," Liquid cut in, "it's my turn, now, and my Deck is complete!"

I grinned in anticipated as Liquid took his place across from me. "Alright, then! You're on!" I cheered in excitement.

However, just as I was about to activate my Duel Disk, I heard the sound of a door sliding open behind me. Turning quickly, my eyes fell on the man from earlier. If I remembered correctly, he was Sayer, the leader of the Arcadia Movement. He strode forwards, his hands behind his back. Immediately, his gaze fell on me.

"Ah! Our new recruit! How are you fitting in, my dear?" he smiled pleasantly.

"Um... Very well, sir... We were just Dueling..." I responded shyly, afraid of offending him in ways that I couldn't even comprehend.

"Wonderful! There's nothing like a good old Duel between new friends to make you feel welcome!" he grinned. However, his face quickly took on a much more serious expression as Okita and Liquid lined up on either side of me, standing to attention. I quickly copied them as Sayer began to speak again. "I have a job for you three," Sayer began. "The Fortune Cup is currently taking place. Many amazing Duelists are be attending this event. As a Sector Security event, I cannot allow Security to remain unchecked." After finishing his explanation, Sayer turned towards the door. "Akiza. Come," he ordered.

No sooner than he spoke than a beautiful young woman with red hair and a red dress entered the room. Something inside me stirred at her appearance, although I couldn't be sure what it was. "Yes, Sayer," she responded to her leader as she took her place beside him.

"Akiza has already attended this event. However, she lost not long ago," Sayer explained. "You three will infiltrate the tournament and keep an eye on the man who defeated her. We cannot let this man ruin our plans. You aren't powerful enough to use your powers in a Duel yet, so you three must work together. As new members, think of it as a form of field training," he smiled.

"Yes, sir!" Okita and Liquid chorused on either side of me.

Despite the fact that I had missed my cue, Sayer simply smiled pleasantly and strode out again, Akiza in tow. However, just as she was leaving, Akiza glanced back and I was almost certain that her gaze was lingering on me for a second. Quickly looking away, Akiza followed Sayer out the door, leaving me to ponder her expression as she looked at me moments prior.

Why did her eyes look so... _sad...?_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Infiltration

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Reverse of Arcadia._

_5D's_

_Before anyone says anything, yes. I'm fully aware of the error in the last chapter. If no one noticed, Akiza has already Dueled Yusei which I stated during Stardust Accelerator. As a result, the final few paragraphs of the last chapter have been modified slightly. In other words, the mission has changed. Thanks again for reading and I apologise for the error. Without further ado, please enjoy the chapter._

_5D's_

_(Epsilon's P.O.V.)_

"Well?" I began, staring at Okita's back as he leaned around a building, taking a good look at the back entrance to the stadium. "How does it look?"

My bespectacled friend sighed and turned to face us with a frown. "There's no getting in that way," he informed us. "It's too heavily guarded."

Liquid groaned in annoyance. "What do we do now, then?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps we should find another entrance," I suggested, raising an eyebrow as I glanced at my friends' faces, searching for a response.

"That's really the only thing that we can do…" Okita admitted, scratching his head as if he was attempting to think of some kind of plan.

Hearing Liquid begin to grumble, I took the time to take a look around the reasonably empty streets. _'Everyone's inside watching the tournament,'_ I reasoned, my eyes scanning the streets of New Domino City.

Buildings towered on either side of us, the Arcadia Movement building barely visible in the distance as skyscrapers and office buildings obscured it from view. The lack of graffiti and rubbish, clean air and well-kept grass along the sides of the path all made it incredibly obvious that we weren't in the much poorer and filthier Daimon Area that I'd heard so much about from Liquid and Okita as they had kindly explained the city to me earlier after I informed them about my memory loss.

As a crisp breeze blew past us, my attention was suddenly drawn towards Liquid as he pointed at something. I followed his finger until my gaze rested on a building that stood off to our left. It was a light grey colour and slightly dirtier than the rest of the buildings, oil staining the floor inside of the building, the illuminated lights that hung from the ceiling allowing as to make out crates inside it. It was a long building and, upon further examination, it appeared to be connected to the stadium.

"That looks like it leads inside," Liquid pointed out.

"It looks like some kind of storage area…" Okita mused.

"If you guys are up for it, I'm willing to give it a shot," I told them, watching as a man drove a dirty yellow forklift into the building, a crate balanced on the fork in front of it.

"We'll have to be very careful. It looks like there are quite a few workers in there. We'll just get thrown out if we're seen," Liquid stated, crossing his arms as he watched a few more workers in dark blue boiler suits which were spattered with what appeared to be dirt and paint enter the building.

We glanced at each other, silently making the decision to enter through a lack of other options. Okita set off first, leading the way across the street. We crouched down as we ran alongside the wall, being careful not to be seen by the workers or any security guards that may have been present.

Upon reaching the entranceway, Okita gestured for us to stop as he checked out the level of security. Nodding in satisfaction, he glanced at us and gestured again, asking us to follow him as he lead the way inside. We hurried along as quickly as we could, keeping an eye out for anyone who might have caused us trouble. Heading out of the sunlight and into the dimly lit interior, we ducked behind a large wooden crate to think of our next move.

"There aren't as many people here as I'd first thought..." I whispered, taking a look around.

"Thank goodness for that..." Liquid sighed, apparently looking for a path through the building where we wouldn't be spotted.

"Indeed..." Okita stated, pointing at something further down the room. Past all of the crates, warehouse racking and machinery, what looked like a large garage door opened up into a long, wide hallway, sunlight filtering into the building from the other side. "That looks like the way out," he told us.

"We should probably just go straight," I suggested, pointing further down the row of warehouse racking and crates. "There are lots of things to shield us further down the way that we're going. We'll just make a break for the exit when we get closer," I suggested.

Liquid nodded slowly. "Sounds like a plan."

"Let's get going, then. We don't have much time left," Okita whispered.

Steeling ourselves, we glanced around, looking for anyone who may have been looking in our direction before quickly diving behind a large metal warehouse rack which was laden with packages, boxes and tools that must have been used for opening up the crates. We hurried along, ensuring that we wouldn't be seen by anyone, weaving in and out of the crates, warehouse racking the odd piece of machinery as we made our way towards the exit.

Just as we reached the end of the row and were faced with open floor, the smooth, grey concrete walls and floor of the building began to rumble, items tumbling from the shelves around us as a deafening roar rang out. Clutching onto the wooden crate next to me, I closed my eyes, waiting for the rumbling to stop. When it eventually died down, I heard an impressed whistle coming from the entrance. I turned to see a muscular man with short black hair in a dirty blue boiler suit shake his head.

"What I'd give to be watching that Duel," the man chuckled as he stroked his stubble, his voice deep and gruff. "I mean, it's a Duel between the finalist and the King!"

Another man ran a hand through his shoulder length brown hair and chucked. "That guy's a Satellite. The King'll beat him without any problems."

"Speaking of Satellites, what happened to that other Satellite in the competition?" the black-haired man asked, turning his back to us to face the brown-haired man.

"Who? The one who went missing?" the brown-haired man inquired with a frown.

"Yeah. That Hikari girl," the black-haired man stated.

"Pfft... Who cares? She probably ran off so that she wouldn't have to go back to Satellite once the Fortune Cup ends," the brown-haired man grunted.

"I wouldn't be surprised... Darn Satellites... They're a filthy, dishonest lot..." The black-haired man sighed, wandering off with the brown-haired man, their conversation slowly becoming harder to hear as they made their way outside.

"So..." Liquid whispered. "The Duel between Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo has already started..."

"Who's the one that we're supposed to watch?" I asked, cocking my head to the side in mild confusion.

"The Satellite Yusei Fudo," Okita explained. "Jack Atlas is the King of Turbo Duels."

"Either way, we need to get a move on," Liquid grumbled, taking a look around. Seeing no one, he led the charge, our footsteps echoing lightly through the warehouse as we hurried towards the open door.

As we raced down the hallway, loud cheering quickly became apparent, growing in volume as we neared the exit. Another roar sounded and the ground rumbled again, the light outside growing in intensity, refusing to reduce. That was odd. It was far too long in duration to be an attack. I glanced at Liquid and Okita who seemed just as baffled as I was.

"That light doesn't seem like an attack," Okita panted, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

I nodded. "It's too long to be an attack," I stated.

"Maybe it's an error with the system," Liquid suggested. "The ground shouldn't be rumbling, either. Not unless one of them is a Psychic Duelist."

Okita shook his head. "Neither of them are Psychic Duelists. Either way, we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Let's just get out of here and see how it plays out."

I glanced back, checking the tunnel for any sign that we might be stopped on our way out. No one was there, the sounds of machinery starting up in the warehouse indicating that those who had remained in the building had started to work, most likely screwing the lids back onto some of the open crates or moving the crates elsewhere. It was unlikely that they would need anything from the warehouse any more. After all, the tournament was almost over.

We soon exited the corridor and stepped out into the light of day, shielding our eyes as we looked up at the source of the overwhelming light from earlier. I stepped backwards in shock, ignoring the reactions of Okita and Liquid on either side of me as I focused on the scene before me.

A bright light filled the entirety of the stadium, a dark shape shifting high above us, but the light was far too strong for us to figure out what it was. _'Perhaps it's a monster,' _I reasoned half-heartedly, ignoring a twinge of pain that surfaced in the back of my head, preventing me from thinking clearly.

"Come on! Let's get inside and see what's going on!" Liquid yelled over the sound of another deafening roar.

Neither of us paused to argue as we rushed into the building, following Liquid's lead. The automatic doors swung open with a _whoosh_, allowing us access to the building. Rubbing our eyes furiously, all three of us tried to blink the spots out of our eyes, slowly adjusting to the much darker corridor.

"What was that...? I asked breathlessly as we began to hurry along the corridor, our feet tapping upon the the brown-coloured stone floor, the same light blue walls surrounding us wherever we went. Okita looked back at me as we passed a potted plant.

"I'm not sure," he replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe it was a monster," Liquid suggested. "The shape in the light, I mean."

"I noticed that, too," Okita stated. "Whatever it was, it was a very large monster."

"I've never seen anything like it..." I frowned in thought. "I remember lots of monsters... but none like that..."

Liquid scratched his nose. "It's not just you. We're all just as baffled as you are."

"While we're on the subject of cards, maybe the light was just a Field Spell," Okita stated. "Like Luminous Spark."

"But, isn't this a Turbo Duel?" Liquid responded.

"Yeah. They use the Speed World Field Spell in Turbo Duels. Luminous Spark couldn't be used," I told him.

Okita chucked nervously, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah... You're right... Either way, it's probably explainable."

I nodded hopefully, trying to ignore the pain that continued to throb in the back of my head as I tried to comprehend the current situation. Panting heavily, we turned to our right, heading down another corridor as we blindly raced along. I looked at Liquid and Okita, their eyes darting around as if they were searching for an exit.

"Does anyone know which way to go?" I queried as we rounded another corner.

Liquid glanced at me before quickly averting his eyes. "Nope," he responded bluntly.

Okita laughed nervously. "What he means to say is that we weren't exactly shown the map before we came on this mission. We'll just have to follow the sounds of the Duel."

I sighed as we turned left and headed down another corridor, trying to focus on the sounds of the Duel. I shielded my eyes as we passed a window, the harsh light from outside pouring into the building, and briefly internally cursed my uniform, the long robes making it hard to run.

Suddenly, as we turned a corner, we came upon an automatic door that lay straight ahead of us. Without thinking, we made our way towards the door, the sounds of battle becoming louder than ever. Deciding that this was most likely it, we slowed to a stop in front of the door, panting heavily as we tried to catch our breath.

I glanced at Okita and Liquid. "This sounds like it might be it..." I panted.

Okita nodded quickly, his hands on his knees as he sucked in large amounts of air. "You may be right..."

"We shouldn't waste any time..." Liquid stated breathlessly, standing straight from his hunched over position. "The Duel could be over soon..."

Before we could react, he stepped forwards and the door whooshed open. Expecting the harsh light from before to flood in, we shielded our eyes. Blinking in surprise as I was not assaulted by the light, I slowly lowered my arms and took a look around as we all stepped out onto the Dueling field in the centre of the stadium.

Looking skywards, I supressed a gasp of shock and awe as I finally laid eyes on the creature that had been hiding inside of the light from earlier, the pain in my head continuing to grow. High above us, a large, dragon circled, its body seemingly consisting on crimson-coloured flames, the variety of colours within its body shifting around as flames seemed to fly off of its body.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a familiar voice spoke from behind us.

I spun around, locking eyes with the man behind me. I heard Okita gasp in surprise. "Sir!" he exclaimed as Sayer—the leader of the Arcadia Movement—approached us from behind.

"What is it?" Liquid asked.

Sayer ran a hand through his hair as he stared up at the being above us. "The Crimson Dragon…" he muttered, staring blankly at the dragon in the air above us, almost as if he didn't hear us.

Okita, Liquid and I glanced at each other in confusion, Sayer's few words not giving us much of an idea of what was going on. The dragon let out another roar, giving us barely enough time to look up at it before it faded away, leaving clear blue skies once more. With the dragon gone, the MC took the opportunity to speak.

"No one saw this coming!" the overexcited MC yelled out into his microphone. "Jack Atlas has fallen! New Domino City has a new king! Yuuuuseeeeiiii Fuuuudoooo!"

"So… It's already done…" Sayer mumbled, staring down at the track where I could vaguely see a blond man in a white riding suit being carried off of the track on a stretcher, a black-haired man in a dark blue jacket standing close by. Suddenly, Sayer turned away. "Nothing more can be done today. We're going home."

"Yes, sir!" we chorused, immediately following him as he began to walk away.

We hadn't gotten far down the hallway when we heard the doors open behind us and a few pairs of footsteps followed us out. An annoying giggle sounded from behind us, the footsteps stopping. We paused and turned around, spotting two men in black suits with black sunglasses—one brown-haired and one blond—and what I can only describe as a purple-haired clown with red lipstick and a line of red makeup running vertically over each of his green eyes. He wore a white shirt, white trousers and a pair of black and yellow boots, his red coat with a black collar and gold trim swishing behind him as he abruptly stopped behind the two other men.

"Stop right there!" the clown giggled, earning an annoyed moan from Sayer. "Director Goodwin has asked you to send dear Miss Izinski to him as soon as possible. He wishes to have a word with her."

"Would you three please deal with them?" Sayer grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I must return immediately…"

Without another word, all three of us stepped between Sayer and the two security guards that stood with the clown, standing in v-formation with Liquid to my left and Okita standing in the front. The clown giggled again, his red lips curling into a smile. "Deal with them quickly, men," he told them. "Then, track down Sayer and make him bring Akiza to us!"

"Yes, sir!" the two men chorused as they stepped forwards.

The blond man to the left stood before Liquid and the brown-haired man took his place in front of me, both of them raising their Duel Disks as Okita kept an eye on the clown, making sure that he didn't slip past us and get to Sayer or call for any more backup. Focusing on the man in front of me, I raised my Duel Disk, narrowing my eyes in determination as I felt Sayer's eyes on me.

"DUEL!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Fear

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Reverse of Arcadia._

_5D's_

**(Epsilon: 4000/security guard: 4000)**

"I'll go first," the security guard grunted, quickly drawing a card. "I place one monster face-down," he stated, a face-down card materialising on the field. "That's all. I'll end my turn," the security guard stated, his posture relaxing slightly.

**(Epsilon: 4000/security guard: 4000)**

Seeing my chance to take out his monster, I quickly drew a card. "I draw!" I declared as I drew the card and placed it in my hand before picking up another card. Placing it on my Duel Disk, I quickly gestured towards the field, a white light glowing before me as my monster began to materialise. "I Summon Absorbing Kid from the Sky **(ATK: 1300 DEF: 1000)** in Attack Mode!"

A black-haired, pudgy angel with snow white wings and a perpetual blush touched down on the field, his wooden sandals tapping against the floor. Crossing his arms, he scowled at the security guard, flapping his wings as the movements caused his white t-shirt and black shorts to pull back, the large stomach that he had been trying to hide protruding out and hanging over his shorts.

"Attack his face-down monster!" I ordered, watching with satisfaction as my angel-like monster launched himself forwards with a flurry of feathers, intending to body slam the face-down monster when it appeared.

The monster that took to the field with a tiny squeak was far too cute to be called a vermin. It was a small, light brown hamster-like creature, a light blush gracing its fluffy cheeks. It quickly shook itself, letting out another squeak as it curled up slightly, its nose and whiskers twitching as it sniffed its surroundings before rubbing its face as if it was cleaning itself.

As it turned blue signifying that it had entered Defence Mode, it's large, shining eyes looked in my general direction before it turned its head and looked elsewhere. Reminding myself that it was a hamster and that its eyesight wasn't all that great, I decided that the virtual hamster—if a hologram was even capable of seeing—had simply not been able to pinpoint my location. **(Bubonic Vermin—ATK: 900 DEF: 600)**

As the monster appeared, my Absorbing Kid seemed to charge forwards even faster, using his wings to propel him forwards. Slamming into the the hamster-like monster, the rodent squeaked in pain before shattering into shards of light which quickly disappeared.

"Next, I activate my Absorbing Kid's effect!" I stated as Absorbing Kid returned to my side of the field, his body beginning to glow slightly as his effect activated. "When he destroys one of your monsters, I gain 300 Life Points for each Level that your destroyed monster had! Your monster was Bubonic Vermin! That's a Level 3 monster, so I get 900 Life Points!" I explained, the light from Absorbing Kid slowly drifting over to me. As I was surrounded by the light, I felt a sudden sense of serenity as my Life Points shot up.

**(Epsilon: 4900/security guard: 4000)**

As I finished, I saw the security guard smirk. Gritting my teeth, I began to suspect that his destroyed monster also had some sort of effect. "I activate my Bubonic Vermin's effect!" the security guard began. "When my Bubonic Vermin is Flip Summoned, I can Summon another Bubonic Vermin in face-down Defence Mode!"

A card shot out of his Deck which he immediately took, placing it in the same zone that the last monster had been in as his Duel Disk began to reshuffle his Deck. The card immediately materialised on the field in a golden light, taking the spot of his Bubonic Vermin.

Sighing in disappointment, I relaxed my tense shoulders slightly. "I end my turn," I told him.

**(Epsilon: 4900/security guard: 4000)**

"My turn! I draw!" the security guard declared as he drew a card, glancing at it before placing it in his hand and picking up another card. "I Tribute my face-down Bubonic Vermin to Summon Gyakutenno Megami **(ATK: 1800 DEF: 2000)** in Attack Mode!"

My eyes widened in awe as one of the most beautiful monsters that I'd ever seen took to the field. She was tall and slender—almost elven in appearance—with a long, purple dress that reached her ankles, her shoulders shielded by large purple shoulder plates. Her green hair spiralled around her head in midair, held in place by a pointed, golden, jewelled headpiece extended up the left side of her head, cupping one of her slightly-pointed ears. Beneath her sapphire blue eyes, across her forehead and up both of her biceps, she bore intricate red tattoos and she wore a pair of black gauntlets, golden wings seeming to sprout from the sides—designs which were echoed in the necklace that sat upon her chest and the golden staff that she clutched tightly in her right hand. Sandalled feet touched down onto the ground as she held the staff up, ready to attack me at any moment.

"Next, I activate the Equip Spell Card Silver Bow and Arrow and I equip it to my Gyakutenno Megami!" the security guard began. "With this card, Megami gains 300 Attack and Defence Points!"

I watched as a strong wind began to blow and the staff that she clutched tightly shimmered with a silver light before transforming into a black bow with a red grip in the centre, the wind blowing the red tassels on either end of the bow. Pulling the bowstring taut, a shining, silver arrow materialised. Narrowing her eyes, the elf-like woman before me took aim, the gleaming head of the arrow pointed directly at Absorbing Kid **(Gyakutenno Megami ATK: 2100 DEF: 2300).**

"Megami! Attack her Absorbing Kid!" the security guard ordered, gesturing towards my monster.

The response was instantaneous. Megami let go of the rope, the silver arrow shooting forwards faster than the eye could see, a silver trail of sparkles following the arrow as it cut a path through the air. The arrow pierced Absorbing Kid's chest and, very soon, I felt a sharp pain in my own chest as the arrow struck me, as well, Absorbing Kid exploding as my Life Points dropped.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn," the security guard stated, lowering his arm as the face-down card appeared on the field.

**(Epsilon: 3200/security guard: 4000)**

Eyeing up the monster in front of me, I placed my fingers on the top card of my deck. "My turn! I draw!" I drew the card and glanced at it, trying my best to suppress a smirk of confidence. However, I placed the card into my hand and picked up another one, knowing that I had other things to do before I played it.

"I Summon my Asura Priest Defence Mode!" I declared as I placed the corresponding card onto the cold metal of my Duel Disk.

The familiar blue man with six arms appeared on my side of the field, his arms and neck adorned with golden jewellery and his hair, a darker blue than his skin, was tied up with red string. His crimson cape fluttered in the wind that resulted from his sudden appearance before he quickly turned blue, crouching down defensively.

"Next, I place one card face-down and end my turn," I stated as my card materialised in the Spell and Trap Card Zone.

Smirking, the security guard confidently drew a card. "I draw!" He declared as he drew the card and glanced at at it, placing it into his hand as he decided that it was unnecessary. "Attack her Asura Priest, Megami!" he bellowed, Megami immediately obeying as the pulled the bowstring back as far as it would go, conjuring up another arrow as she did so. As she fired the arrow, I immediately leapt into action.

"Not so fast! I activate the Trap Card Sakuretsu Armour!" I gestured towards the Trap Card on my field which flipped face-up, a large, demonic suit of armour materialising in front of my Asura Priest, covering the monster in an electrically charged barrier. "Because you attacked my monster, I can activate this card which allows me to destroy the attacking monster!"

The electricity crackled menacingly as the arrow hit it, deflecting it. The arrow spun out of control before finally embedding itself in Megami's chest, causing her to explode as the barrier and the demonic-looking armour on my side of the field slowly faded from existence. I heard a grunt of annoyance as I placed my Trap Card into the Graveyard.

"You...!" the security guard hissed, finally losing his temper. "When I win this Duel, you'll wish you'd never been born, you Arcadia Movement freak!" he bellowed. "I won't let you get away with destroying my monster! I activate the Trap Card Simultaneous Loss!"

Ignoring the insult, I peered at the card that appeared before us, recognising Warrior Dai Grepher and Warrior Lady of the Wasteland on the card, Warrior Lady's hat falling from her head as both of their swords flew from their hands, spinning out of control. I didn't have to wait long to hear the card's effect.

"With this card, I can force us both to discard the top card of our Decks!" he declared, already removing the top card from his Deck.

Deciding that it wasn't the worst thing that could possibly have happened, I removed the top card from my Deck and looked at it before I sent it to the Graveyard. However, the card made me grit my teeth in annoyance, my eyes narrowing as I stared at the card.

The card displayed a young woman in a flowing white dress with a silver breastplate, a circular silver and gold shield in her hand. A large silver staff with three prongs that intertwined on the way up the blade creating circular patterns as they went was clutched tightly in her right hand, the red jewel that was set into the staff seeming to shine brightly. Beneath her silver helmet, long silver hair flowed in the wind. It was Athena. I'd just lost a monster with 2600 Attack Points. I looked up with a glare as I heard the security guard start to laugh.

"It looks as though you've lost something pretty good!" he cackled. "Well, that's all that I can do for now. Your move!"

**(Epsilon: 3200/security guard: 4000)**

"I draw!" I called, drawing my card. Taking a brief glance at it, I reached for Asura Priest. "I switch Asura Priest into Attack Mode!" I declared, watching as Asura Priest took a fighting stance, his natural colours being returned to him. "Now, attack him directly!"

Asura Priest launched himself forwards, his hands raised, open palms pointed towards the security guard. Landing in front of him, Asura Priest began to deliver blow after blow, faster than the eye could see. With a pained yell, the security guard was thrown backwards, falling to the floor with a pained grunt and a groan of agony.

"T-that hurts..." he moaned, slowly sitting up as he pushed his glasses back into place, his brown hair ruffled slightly. "I-is this the power of a Psychic Duelist?" he stammered, clutching at his chest.

"Well done, Epsilon!" I heard Sayer congratulate me from behind, clapping slowly. "That was an outstanding display of power!"

I turned to see him smiling at me. I smiled awkwardly, unable to control my blush as he praised me. "Thank you, sir..." I bowed slightly in thanks.

"Just be careful," Sayer warned. "We don't want too much damage or for someone to get seriously injured."

"I-I'll do my best, sir!" I stammered, standing up straight.

"Oi!" I heard a gruff voice yell from behind me. Turning, I saw the security guard stumble to his feet, a nasty bruise developing on his right cheek. "You should be paying attention to me, freak!"

"Y-yes! I'm sorry! I end my turn!" I blurted out, slightly apologetic for the damage that I had caused to the man.

**(Epsilon: 3200/security guard: 2300)**

"My turn! I draw!" the security guard grunted, drawing a card. "I Summon Masked Dragon **(ATK: 1400 DEF: 1100)** in Defence Mode!"

A large, white, muscular dragon with a crimson underside took to the field with a mighty roar, its white wings with purple undersides beating as hard as they could as if it was trying to intimidate me or my monsters. The white, bone-like mask on its face opened up as it let out another roar, its clawed feet touching down on the ground with a thud before its body turned blue and it crouched down in a defensive position.

"It's your move," he told me.

**(Epsilon: 3200/security guard: 2300)**

"I draw!" I declared, drawing a card. Glancing at it, I placed the card onto my Duel Disk. "I Summon Apocatequil **(ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200)** in Attack Mode!"

I watched as the familiar tiny, wooden, tiki-like creature with a yellow, rake-like staff, white robes and golden anklets hopped onto the field. Jumping from one leg to the other, it waved its staff around, before pointing it the security guard and his dragon, its golden anklets jingling against its wooden body.

"Next, I'll have Asura Priest attack your Masked Dragon!" I ordered, watching as Asura Priest launched itself forwards, delivering blow after blow to Masked Dragon which roared in pain before exploding, reducing it to shards of light which hung in the air.

"You've just activated my Masked Dragon's effect! With this, I can Summon another Dragon-Type monster with 1500 or less Attack Points!" he explained as a card appeared from his Deck. He picked it up, his Duel Disk quickly shuffling his cards. "I'll Summon my Baby Dragon **(ATK: 1200 DEF: 700) **in Defence Mode!"

The remnants of Masked Dragon that hung in the air began to swirl around, taking a new form. With a croaky cry that sounded as if it was intended to be a roar, a small, yellowish-brown dragon with a peach underbelly and large blue eyes landed on its bottom on the field, wrapping its tiny arms and wings around itself as it turned a shade of light blue.

"It doesn't matter! I'll take out your Baby Dragon!" I declared. "Attack, Apocatequil!"

Apocatequil nodded, ceasing to jump from one foot to the other. Spinning its staff around, it lunged forwards, the rake-like top of the staff hitting Baby Dragon with a sickening crack. Letting out a cry of agony, the monster exploded as Apocatequil quickly returned to my side of the field, pointing his staff at the security guard as if he was warning him that he was next. I saw the security guard gulp, intimidated as he no doubt recalled the direct attack that he had received earlier.

"It's your move," I stated as the security guard reached for the top of his Deck.

**(Epsilon: 3200/security guard: 2300)**

The security guard's hand trembled as he hesitated to draw his next card. I frowned. Was he really that frightened? My powers hadn't scared him that badly, had they? He didn't look like he had even been hurt that badly. Yet, he hesitated. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the card from his Deck.

"I draw!" he yelled, glancing at the card, his eyes widening. He placed the card into his hand and frantically looked over his other cards, an expression of horror creeping onto his face.

"What's wrong, you imbecile?!" the clown screeched from behind the security guard. "Play a card!"

"B-but, sir...! I... I have nothing!" The security guard trembled, his eyes glued to me. He took a step backwards, his once-cocky attitude quickly disappearing as he was suddenly faced with reality. "I-Im sorry... P-please... Have mercy... Don't kill me..." he mumbled, dropping his card. Glancing down, his eyes widened as he spotted a way out. A trembling hand was placed over his Deck. "I-I forfeit! Please, just leave me alone!" With a cry of terror, the security guard turned to flee, roughly pushing the clown out of the way, forgetting about the cards that he had dropped earlier.

**(Epsilon: 3200/security guard: forfeit)**

I ignored the cry of pain that sounded to my left as the second security guard fell to the ground, his Life Points reduced to 0. My mind was focused on the reaction of that security guard and the dull, throbbing pain that still lingered in the back of my head, growing and growing as my baffled mind tried to wrap itself around the situation. Rubbing my temple, I looked up as I heard someone speak to me as the other security guard and the clown made a very hasty retreat.

"Are you alright?" Okinawa asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. "That guy said some pretty nasty things..."

"Yeah... It's alright..." I responded quietly as Liquid approached me, deactivating his Duel Disk. It's only a headache..."

"We were lucky that they were only security guards," Liquid stated. "They aren't the best of Duelists, we were lucky that they were Dueling us and not fighting us, but with our psychic powers, we could have taken them," he bragged with a grin.

Suddenly, I became aware of Sayer's eyes staring at me from behind. I turned to meet his gaze, the leader of the Arcadia Movement never once looking away. "Is something wrong, sir?" I asked, wincing slightly as my headache increased.

"I'm sorry, but did you say that you had a headache?" he inquired, his tone serious and his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Y-yes, sir..." I stammered in response, shrinking slightly under his gaze.

"Well then, dear child, you should have said something," he said with a sigh, his stony eyes not conveying the concern that his tone was putting across. He suddenly turned away, snapping his fingers. "Kuroe!" he barked.

I quickly became aware of movement out of the corner of my eye. Someone had just made themselves known, taking a step out from around the corner. He was a tall man with straight, black hair that reached his shoulders, stark against his pale skin, a golden hue within his dark brown eyes. He wore a black, sleeveless t-shirt, the form-fitting material accentuating his toned muscles. His black jeans which were long enough to cover his black trainers were held up by a black leather belt, the silver buckle standing out against his black-clad figure. His eyes locked onto me as I heard a gasp from Okita.

"He's an elite... Wow..." I heard Liquid whisper in awe.

_'An elite...?' _I pondered as Kuroe began to walk towards us, redirecting his gaze at Sayer's. _'Is it because he isn't wearing a uniform? None of the higher-ups like Sayer or Akiza seem to wear uniforms... Never mind that... Has he been following us the entire time or did he come here with Sayer? I didn't even know that he was there.'_

"Take Epsilon home," Sayer ordered, staring at Kuroe. "She isn't feeling well." He turned to Okita and Liquid. "You two will come with me. We need to stop off somewhere, first."

"Yes, sir!" Kuroe, Okita and Liquid chorused.

"Go on ahead, and once you get back, rest in your room, Epsilon," Sayer smiled gently. "It wouldn't be right to have you running around as you are."

"Yes, sir..." I responded, disappointed that I had perhaps let him down.

Kuroe abruptly started to walk away, leaving me just enough time to flash a weak smile at my friends as I spotted the worried looks on their faces. Turning, I hurriedly attempted to match the older man's stride. I glanced up at his face, unable to shake the odd feeling that rose in my chest as I stared up at his face.

Suddenly, he glanced down at me. "Is everything alright?"

Unable to tear my eyes away from him, I gazed into his eyes, watching as the golden hues deep within his eyes danced in the light. I stared, dumbfounded by the unnamable emotions that bubbled up from within me, before saying the first words that came to mind—a niggling thought in the back of my mind coming forwards before I could stop it.

"Do I know you...?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Speed

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Reverse of Arcadia._

_5D's_

"So, where are we going today?" I asked Liquid and Okita as I followed them both down the hallway.

"We're going to the highway," Liquid explained as we rounded the corner, the front door of the building coming into sight.

"Sayer took us there yesterday after that elite member took you home," Okita frowned. "By the way, are you alright?"

"Yep!" I quickly answered, reassuring them with a smile. "It was just a headache! I think that Sayer just overreacted!"

"We're glad to hear it!" Okita exclaimed with a bright smile, obviously relieved.

"So, what are we doing at the highway?" I inquired, curiosity getting the better of me.

Liquid grinned knowingly. "Duel Runner training!"

"What?!" I half-shrieked. "They're expecting me to ride a Duel Runner?! I've never ridden one before!"

Okita chuckled as we exited the building and began to talk down the street. "Calm down. You'll be fine."

"That depends on your definition of 'fine'..." I pouted.

"It's alright. It isn't that difficult. You'll get the hang of it soon enough," Okita told me with a smile.

"Have you ridden one before?" I asked Okita as we finally reached the clean city square, taking a left as we got there, walking past all of the holographic signs for various products and organisations that I'd never heard of.

"Yeah. It really isn't as difficult as you think. Unlike motorcycles, Duel Runners are fitted with a system that helps people to keep their balance, sort of like training wheels. I'm not sure how it works, but you shouldn't fall off too easily," Liquid reassured me.

"Not unless you do something stupid," Liquid told me. "As long as you don't go too quickly around the corners, the system won't let you fall off."

"Have... Have you guys ever crashed...?" I inquired quietly.

Liquid shook his head. "No, but I've never driven one before."

"I crashed once," Okita stated. "But, it wasn't my fault. Another guy ran me off the road. You won't have that problem. The Arcadia Movement booked the highway for training."

I nodded, wiping away a bead of sweat that began to roll down the side of my face. The boys were right. There was no sense in worrying. As long as the system didn't fail, I would be fine. Maybe it would even be fun. _'Just as long as I don't go too quickly, I'll be safe,' _I decided as we approached the heavy iron gates to the highway.

As we reached the gates, we noticed a green-haired man standing in front of them. He turned with a smile as we came closer, his hair hiding his eyes from us. The stripe down the front of his robes was green, unlike our pink robes, singling him out as one of the higher-ups—a training instructor, if I recalled correctly.

"Ah! You're here for the training, I presume!" he called, holding up a helmet.

Liquid nodded. "Yep! We're looking forward to it!"

"That's great! Now, remember that doing well here means that you might get your own Duel Runner," the man grinned, holding out the helmet. "So, who's first?"

"I'll go first!" Liquid volunteered excitedly.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to go first?" Okita chucked nervously. "After all I know what I'm doing... Watching me could help..."

"Nah! I'm rearing to go!" Liquid responded with a lighthearted laugh.

"Alright, then! It's settled!" the man smiled. "By the way, I'm Kawasaki. I'll be your instructor for today."

"I'm Liquid, and these guys are Okita and Epsilon!" Liquid greeted, quickly making his way towards the purple Duel Runner that was parked just outside the gates.

"It's good to meet you all. However, you may want to take these off before you start," Kawasaki stated, tugging at the outer layer of his robes, rubbing the black fabric between his fingers. "It'll only get in your way as you ride."

"Yes, sir!" Liquid immediately complied, pulling the outer layer of his robes over his head. "Oi! Hold these for me!" he yelled, throwing his robes to Okita as he eagerly took the helmet from Kawasaki, the instructor muttering to our friend, no doubt teaching him how to turn the engine on which he quickly picked up, revving the Duel Runner with a childish grin.

Kawasaki walked over to a control panel beside the gate, placing his finger on a button, causing the gate to rattle open. Taking a black stopwatch from his pocket, he nodded at Liquid. "Begin in 3, 2, 1. Go!"

With a whoop of delight, Liquid sped off, quickly turning the corner and disappearing from sight, the rather quiet sounds of the engine soon fading away, leaving us to twiddle our thumbs as we waited for our childish friend to return. Kawasaki shook his head, chucking in amusement at Liquid's antics as the stopwatch was started.

"I expect lots more of that today..."

It didn't take long for Liquid to return, the high-pitched sounds of his Duel Runner's engine slowly becoming apparent in the silence. Okita grinned as Liquid came whizzing around the corner before coming to an abrupt, bumpy halt as he fumbled with the breaks. Taking off his helmet, he let out a breathless laugh and looked at me.

"You have to try this, Epsilon...!" he chuckled, hanging his helmet on the handlebars. "It's so fun, and it really isn't as hard as you think...!"

"He's right, Epsilon," Okita told me as Kawasaki approached us.

"Well done!" Kawasaki exclaimed, his eyes on the stopwatch in his hand. "That was 1 minute and 25 seconds. Perhaps you'll even get your own Duel Runner after this."

"Yes!" Liquid cheered excitedly, coming over to pat me on the back. "Come on! It's your turn!"

"M-me?!" I stammered in panic.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed, pushing me towards the Duel Runner.

With a sigh of defeat, I picked up the helmet that he'd left on the handlebars and slid onto the Duel Runner, placing the helmet on my head as my eyes scanned the interface, searching for anything that could look like an on switch. As I heard Kawasaki approaching, my eyes focused on the handlebars. Reaching out, I instinctively twisted them, an amused look crossing Kawasaki's features as the engine roared to life.

"I thought that you couldn't drive," the green-haired man grinned, placing a hand on his hip.

"I... can't... I must have just seen it somewhere before..." I reasoned with a nervous chuckle.

"Perhaps... Let's just see how you drive, eh?" he grinned, accepting my excuse. "The handlebars control the speed. Good luck!"

I nodded, gulping as I twisted the handlebars, the Duel Runner lurching forwards. I brought my feet up and placed them on the foot pegs albeit shakily as the Duel Runner struggled to keep up with my poor balance. However, I soon began to get the hang of it, the machine wobbling less and less as I became accustomed to the movement and speed. As I rounded the first corner, I slowly began to increase my speed until the point where I was comfortable with it—not too slow and not too fast.

I had to admit that it wasn't as bad as I had thought that it would be. The speed, the wind in my hair, the indescribable rush of adrenaline that I felt as I sped along... It was... fun... and it felt so familiar... So right! Liquid was right! Letting out a quiet chuckle, I twisted the handlebars, slowly but surely increasing the speed as I rounded the first corner, my friends disappearing from view.

I rounded corner after corner, the glass barriers on either side of the road flashing past me at a remarkable pace, not a speck of dust flying up from the clean Tarmac roads. The tall office buildings and hotels on either side of me whizzed by almost too quickly for me to see, the holographic signs that dotted the city and the signs on the buildings reduced to nothing but unintelligible blurs that I didn't bother to try to make sense of.

The Duel Runner vibrated beneath me, almost seeming to hover over the road as I turned the corner, letting out a laugh as the purple body of the Duel Runner scraped the ground, sending a shower of sparks into the air. I raised the Duel Runner until I was sitting vertically once more, just in time for a steep decline that had me going much faster than I had been before.

As I neared the bottom of the hill, I turned sharply, narrowly avoiding the glass barriers and speeding towards what I could only refer to as the 'finish line'. Turning towards the open gate, I slowed the Duel Runner down, bringing it to a much smoother halt than Liquid had.

I grinned as I took my helmet off, Kawasaki letting out a long, low whistle of appreciation as Liquid and Okita clapped, no doubt congratulating me for getting over my fear of riding the Duel Runner in the first place. I looked up at Kawasaki as he approached us, the stopwatch held up for me to see it.

"1 minute and 11 seconds! Remarkable! You could very well get your own Duel Runner after this!" the green-haired man smirked, placing his free hand on his hip.

Okita approached, handing me my robes as I stepped off the Duel Runner and hung the helmet on the handlebars. I smiled, pulling my robes over my head. When I had properly adjusted them, Okita's grin seemed to have grown ever wider as he patted me on the back.

"That was incredible!" Okita remarked excitedly as Liquid joined us.

"You _can't_ be a beginner!" Liquid exclaimed, playfully ruffling my long, ginger hair.

I backed off, swatting his hand away with a grin. "Well, I _am_ a beginner!" I confirmed with a grin.

Kawasaki pressed a few buttons on his stopwatch. "So, you're next, Okita," he stated, holding up the stopwatch.

Okita nodded, heading towards the Duel Runner. Just as he was about to pick up the helmet, a voice rang out from behind us. We turned, noticing a young man with pink hair who stood down the road from us, his Arcadia Movement uniform fluttering in the breeze, the colour similar to ours, indicating his low ranking. Was he guarding the path? We hadn't even seen him when we had passed by. Perhaps he had come after us...

The man, his back turned to us, had his hands held up defensively, blocking the road from whoever was trying to pass. "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to turn back," he stated, his voice gruff. "The highway is booked for the day."

As we craned to see what was going on, a bright flash of red metal caught my eye. Someone had obviously come with their Duel Runner to use the highway. However, I couldn't see the person who stood with the massive vehicle. I only heard a quiet voice that belonged to a man, the words that he spoke failing to reach us from where we stood.

"You'll just have to try again tomorrow, sir," the pink-haired man stated.

I heard a loud sigh, the man that we couldn't see speaking up. "There's nothing that can be done about it, I suppose... Thanks, anyway."

The pink-haired man nodded as the other man turned away, turning his Duel Runner as he prepared to leave. He spared one last look at the track, allowing us to catch a glimpse of him. He was relatively average with regards to height and wore a dark blue blue jacket and black jeans with what seemed to be shoulder, elbow and knee pads attached to them. His hair was jet black with yellow highlights and spiked up, a yellow mark of sorts trailing down the left side of his face.

Deep blue eyes locked with mine and, almost immediately, the man froze. Ignoring a throbbing pain much like what I had experienced the day before, I looked away and closed my eyes with a sigh, rubbing my temples. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to meet Liquid's concerned gaze.

"Are you alright?" he inquired quietly as Okita approached, his expression one of sympathy.

I nodded quickly, wincing at the sudden movement. "I-I'm fine..." I stammered.

"I don't know... Maybe we should take her back..." Okita murmured, rubbing my back soothingly. "She's awfully pale..."

The man spoke up. "Hikari?!" he exclaimed, taking a step towards us. "Is that you?!"

Before I could tell him that he was mistaken, a familiar voice rang out. "Not so fast!"

"Sayer!" Liquid and Okita exclaimed as the leader of the Arcadia Movement placed himself between us, pushing the black-haired man away.

"Boys! Take her back! She isn't feeling well!" Sayer yelled before turning to face the black-haired man with a growl before speaking just loud enough for us to hear as Liquid and Okita hurried me along. "Well, Yusei. You just love to put your nose in where it doesn't belong." Sayer grinned, gesturing to me as we passed. "This isn't your dear Hikari. This is Epsilon. Wouldn't she have run to you by now if it was Hikari?"

"I don't know what you're up to Sayer, but this has to stop!" I heard the man yell as we rounded the corner and slowly walked towards the Arcadia Movement headquarters.

As we walked, I began to feel very tired. My head was pounding and I found myself leaning heavily on my friends for support, both of them gently guiding me back to the building, the sounds around me fading. Suddenly, my vision blurred and everything went dark. My legs gave out and everything went silent. A pair of arms wrapped around me and I was lifted up as my consciousness slipped. However, a childish voice rang in my ears.

_"Someone... Please... Help..."_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Dragon of Light

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Reverse of Arcadia._

_5D's_

"Bu... Bu... Bu... ten...! Buten!" a small, high-pitched voice called out to me from the darkness, slowly increasing in volume and desperation.

I groaned, the grass beneath me scratching against my hands and the back of my neck as the sunlight coated my body with its gentle warmth, its light bleeding through my eyelids. I moved my hand, grunting in discomfort when it came into contact with coarse dirt.

"Buten!" the voice from before called again, this time accompanied by a tiny grunt that almost reminded me of a pig.

My eyes snapped open only for me to grimace and roll over as the Sun's rays assaulted my eyes. There was another grunt and, slowly but surely, I opened my eyes, trying to adjust to the light. Once my slightly blurry vision cleared, I stared straight ahead, tiredly taking in the grass, dirt and trees that dotted the landscape within my field of vision.

I blinked sleepily. _'How did I get in a forest...? Wasn't I just with Liquid and Okita...?' _I asked myself.

Suddenly, the high-pitched cry from above me rang out again as whoever was with me moved so that I could see them... or rather landed where a I could see them... I frowned as I saw what had been making the noises. It was a small, rotund pink pig with stubby legs, a large nose, a curly tail, bright blue eyes that sparkled in the sunlight and... tiny angel wings...

"I must be going mad..." I muttered to myself.

The tiny pig jumped up and down, his ears flapping and his nose moving up and down as he did so. "Buten!" it protested, almost as if it was asserting the fact that it was real.

I slowly sat up, never taking my eyes off of the tiny pig which grunted to itself as it watched me. "Buten..." I murmured in thought. "Like the card...?"

The pig nodded furiously. "Buten!" it cried, waddling over to me.

"But... wait... If you're Buten..." I stared at the pig-like monster. "I must be dreaming..." I finally decided after a long silence, reaching up to pinch myself. I let out a yelp, surprised that it had actually hurt me.

The pig grunted happily, its tiny wings flapping and the perpetual blush on its cheeks deepening as a smile appeared to form on its face, almost as if it was laughing at me. I glared at it, an embarrassed blush spreading across my own cheeks, or so I thought as I could feel my cheeks heating up.

"Don't mock me, pig..." I pouted, looking away from the pig as I tried to get my bearings. "Where are we, anyway?" I asked the air.

"Buten!" the pig cried out, trying to get my attention.

I turned to look at it again, the pig letting out an oink. I felt an odd sensation in the back of my head as Buten began to speak again. Bouncing up and down, he began to oink and grunt, crying out his name as if shouting loudly would make me understand him any better and, to be honest, I might have as, just a few seconds later, words bubbled forth to the front of my mind, overflowing from my lips like water before I could stop them or even think about what I was saying.

"The Spirit World..." I mumbled, staring at Buten. "Dark World..."

"Buten!" the pig-like monster cheered, obviously happy that I had guessed what it was trying to say.

"But... how did you...? How did I...?" I began slowly, unable to finish a coherent thought before the next thought bombarded me. However, I wasn't left waiting for answers for very long as a voice cut though the silence.

"I may be able to answer your questions, milady," a warm, female voice stated.

I started, quickly turning my head round to see who had spoken to me only for my field of vision to be taken up by a white, scaly wall, the sun reflecting off of the scales, creating what looked like a shower of sparkles on and around the body of the creature that stood before me, it's massive body coiled like a snake.

I scrambled to my feet, quickly backing away as I slowly looked upwards, the massive creature shifted in place, giving her four white, feathered wings a flap, a shower of feathers drifting down to the ground as she did so. My eyes travelled past the golden armour and green jewels that covered a portion of the upper part of her body and locked with a pair of kind, crimson eyes, her head covered by more of her golden, jewelled armour which extended from the back of her head in a halo-like shape as her clawed hands and feet shifted slightly.

"L-Light End Dragon..." I stammered as I stared up at my Synchro Monster, trying to avoid looking at her rows of sharp, golden teeth.

"Indeed, milady," the dragon responded, almost seeming to smile at me.

I eased slightly as I heard her repeat her name for me. That meant that she was loyal, right? She definitely wouldn't eat me... I hoped... My nervousness was dashed away as Light End began to chuckle lightheartedly. I started as she leaned down and coiled around Buten and I, the pig-like monster's bright blue eyes shining with what I believed to be some form of admiration.

"You need not fear me, milady," Light End told me, getting down to eye level with me. "I shall not harm you. I have merely come to your aid."

Before I could stop myself, a million and one questions came out of my mouth. "Light End Dragon... Where are we? How did I get here? What's going on? I didn't even hear or see you. How did you -?" I was cut off as Light End raised a clawed had.

"That is what I have come here to explain," Light End stated, her mouth appearing to stay absolutely still, even as she spoke. Was this telepathy? Before I could question it further, Light End continued. "This is the one of the eleven Duel Monster's Spirit World's and one of the twelve dimensions known as Dark World, just as Buten has told you. You were brought here by a power other than mine."

"What power was it?" I asked, regaining my confidence.

Light End shook her head. "I cannot be certain, milady, but it was a powerful, ancient one. Much more powerful than a Guardian such as myself or my brother."

"A... Guardian...?" I frowned, unable to understand her. "Wait... How did you even get here? Where did you come from?" I inquired, repeating my question from earlier.

Light End's eyes seemed to grow sad. "I am your Guardian... I am always with you, milady..."

"What's wrong...?" I asked quietly, taking a step towards her.

Light End quickly shook her head. "You need not concern yourself with me, milady. There is something that I must do," she stated, her voice growing in volume and gaining a sense of duty. "I must ask that you hold still, milady."

My eyes widened in confusion as Light End extended a golden claw, the pointed tip resting against the middle of my forehead. Before I could ask what she was doing, there was a short, bright flash of light and I found myself thrown to the ground by a power that was beyond my control, a blinding pain tearing through my mind before disappearing just as quickly as it had come.

Startled, Light End leaned over me. "Milady! Are you alright?!" she asked, touching a claw to the side of my face in what I presumed was some form of motherly affection, or so I would have liked to hope. Buten rushed to my side, grunting in surprise and concern as I slowly sat up, my head suddenly feeling clearer than it had been for the past few days.

"What was I...?" I began, unable to finish as my mind was filled with strange memories of strange people, more and more memories returning by the second.

"Do you understand now, Lady Hikari?" Light End questioned, her scaly hand retreating, but the expression of concern staying on her face.

"Hikari..." I muttered, staring into Light End's eyes. "That's... my name... What happened to me...?" I frowned, trying to remember the past few days and coming up with nothing, my memories hazy.

Light End sighed in relief. "Those humans... They captured you and brainwashed you... I had no way of contacting you to undo the brainwashing... If it wasn't for the power that brought you here... Lady Hikari..." Light End fell silent, slowly shaking her head, her eyes unable to meet mine.

I also fell silent as the past few days became clearer and clearer, a horrifying thought looming in the back of my mind. "Hikari... That..." Light End looked up at me, waiting for me to finish. "That... isn't me..."

Light End looked startled. "What...?" she almost whispered.

"I'm... I'm a clone..." I admitted, tears starting to form in my eyes.

Light End quickly shook her head. "No!" she cried out. "You are my Lady Hikari! If you were not her, I would not be with you!"

"But..." I began, unable to finish.

"No!" she shouted again, her tone desperate. Slowly, she looked away from me. "No... Just... Please trust me, milady... I don't know how you are you, but you _are_ you..." Light End stayed silent, almost as if she was thinking deeply. Then, suddenly, she raised her head and her eyes locked with mine with an expression of realisation. "Perhaps... Perhaps _he_ has the answer..."

"A-answer?" I stammered. "What? Who?"

"The answer to why you still live!" Light End exclaimed excitedly. "He must have the answer!"

"But, who has the answer?" I asked again, growing slightly impatient.

"The Herald! He knows all!" Light End told me, rising up to her full height. "If we could only find him..." she muttered.

I frowned in confusion. "Who is the Herald?" I inquired, staring up at Light End.

All of a sudden, Light End seemed to snap back to reality. Shaking her head quickly, she looked away from me, hanging her head in shame. "I... cannot say..."

"Buten! Buten!" Buten yelled angrily, jumping up and down.

"I am well aware, Buten..." Light End sighed. "However, she must discover it by herself... I cannot reveal the answers... It would be... detrimental..." she finished with a cringe.

"I-I'm confused..." I muttered, looking back and forth between the two Duel Spirits.

"I apologise, milady..." There was a moment of silence before Light End extended her wings, her body beginning to shimmer. "I must take my leave."

"B-but, Light End! Where are you going?!" I stammered in shock as Light End's body began to become transparent.

"I am returning to where I came from," the dragon explained. She turned to Buten. "Please accompany her, Buten," she pleaded. "Milady requires your aid."

Buten began to jump up and down excitedly. "Buten!" it cheered happily.

"Why are you leaving?" I asked, taking a step towards Light End.

"I would attract too much attention," Light End admitted with a wistful sigh. "The balance has shifted and the King is, at present, unable to return it to its rightful state. Enemies are everywhere. I ask that you save this world, milady."

My eyes widened in surprise. "M-me?! Save an entire dimension?!"

"You must, Lady Hikari... The apes have run amok... Please... Return the dimension to its rightful ruler... It is then that you will meet the Herald... Of that, I have no doubt..."

Before I could respond, Light End finally disappeared, the sparkles that had been steadily rising from her body quickly fading from existence one by one. I let out a sigh of frustration as I turned to face Buten, the tiny pig-like monster waiting patiently for me. Rubbing the back of my head, I looked up at the sky.

"If this gets me the answers that I want..." I hurriedly wiped away any residual tears. "Perhaps... we should get moving..." I muttered as a cloud crossed the path of the Sun's rays, the air almost instantly seeming to cool.

"Buten!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Dark World

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or Reverse of Arcadia._

**_5D's_**

**_VITALLY IMPORTANT MESSAGE! PLEASE READ!_**

**Recently, I became the beta of a very sweet girl named Agemagirl. She wrote a thought-provokng story named 'Sunrise' about Ryou Bakura which was incredibly well-written, even though English is not her first language. She uploaded it on 26th October. Within a few days, she received a review from an individual named Geysterboos. This review was incredibly hateful, filled with curse words and, in it, she told her how terrible the story was. We reported this, but so far, nothing has been done. As such, this review can still be seen.**

**This morning, I found out that, not only is Geysterboos a cruel troll, but she is a thief, as well. She published a twisted parody of the story that has clearly been plagiarised and has begun to tell people that Agemagirl stole her story. This is not right.**

**I am not asking you all to flame Geysterboos. What I'm asking is that you show your support for Agemagirl. Don't believe any of Geisterboos's lies and, if possible, please report her for plagiarism (for those who are unaware, reporting is completely anonymous, so you are not at risk). If you wish to PM or review a story that Geysterboos has written, then please don't approach her if you have any stories that you have published very recently as it is possible that she may make you a target. If your story has been posted a while ago, it will be very obvious that she has taken it.**

**If she plagiarises you, please just calmly report her as she is doing it to make you angry and receive negative reviews. Remember: she's a troll and will do anything to get a response out of you. Bullying is not right, and she has been bullying many more people than Agemagirl. If you wish to report her, it would be a good idea to ask your friends and readers to report her, too, as more reports creates a better chance for the report to be noticed quickly.**

**Thank you for listening and please support those who are affected by bullies and plagiarisers as Geysterboos is not the only one out there.**

**EagleTsubasa**

**_5D's_**

I let out a sigh as I continued to walk up the hill, Buten floating around near my head. I had no idea where we were going and, when I asked Buten, he simply stared at me. Some help he was... Still, I was grateful for his company. It was much better than walking around in an unknown land with no one by my side.

"So... Dark World, huh...?" I muttered for what felt like the hundredth time. I looked up at the bright blue sky, the Sun's rays continuing to beat down on us. "It's not very dark, is it...?"

"Buten! Buten, Buten! Buten..." Buten responded, words bubbling up in my mind as they had before. I had come to the conclusion that he was simply telepathic. After all of my experiences with Psychic Duelists, that wasn't exactly far-fetched.

From what I had just gathered from what Buten was trying to tell me, it was named many thousands of years ago by the previous king of Dark World. He was an insane Duel Spirit named Brron and the world used to be ruthlessly controlled by him and his army of Fiends. In those days, the land was covered in an evil darkness, hence the name Dark World.

I frowned. "Evil darkness? What happened to Brron?" I asked the tiny pig-like monster.

Buten began to chatter again, explaining about how the current King of Dark World had defeated Brron. He then went on to say something about a good darkness chasing away the bad darkness which only succeeded in confusing me even further. He briefly mentioned that the new King, while he wasn't a good king at first, had become respected and loved by the Duel Spirits.

"So, what happened to this new king?" I inquired. "Why isn't he helping you?"

"Buten!" the monster began.

Buten began to tell me that their king was, in fact, a human with incredible powers and that he rarely ever returned to Dark World as he had many duties there, too, and he was rarely ever needed. As such, he only ever came back if there was a problem or an event that he had to attend, but the balance had shifted and the Duel Spirits had begun to act strangely, some even harnessing some kind of energy known as Duel Energy to enter the human world in a solid form and cause havoc. Unfortunately, the King's hands were tied.

"Huh... It sounds like a tough job... I wonder how he even got here in the first place..." I mumbled to myself. Buten seemed to shrug, not having any answers for once. "But what about this Herald, guy?" Who is he?"

"Buten," the pig-like monster stated bluntly.

"The King..." I responded, almost speechless. "The Herald... is the King..."

"Buten. Buten, Buten," Buten explained.

"So, he's the King, but first and foremost, he's..." I paused, frowning as I realised that I didn't even know what the Herald was. Buten seemed to understand as he saw my confusion.

"Buten, Buten," he told me.

"The... good darkness...?" I replied, almost as if I was asking for verification.

"Buten." Buten shrugged, floating ahead of me.

"You don't know any more, huh...?" I muttered, watching as Buten hovered in midair, pointing up at something in a tree that lay alongside the path.

"Buten!" he cried out, waving a stubby leg in the general direction of whatever was so important.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I approached him, looking up into the branches of a tall pine tree, almost immediately noticing the glint of metal between the blanket of pine needles.

Stopping beside Buten, I reached up into the tree, grimacing in discomfort as the pine needles scratched against my hand and my arm through the fabric of my uniform. My hand brushed against cold metal, kept away from the warm sunlight by the pine tree's needles. I gripped the cool, cylindrical metal and gave it a good tug, eventually dislodging it from the trunk where it had been embedded with a crack.

A shower of pine needles rained down from the tree as I pulled the object from the clutches of the pine needles, the sunlight glinting off the twisted metal handle of some sort of staff which narrowed down to a point at the bottom of the staff, somewhat reminding me of the point of a spear.

I turned it over in my hands, noting how the twisted metal gave way to two sharp, golden prongs at the head of the staff. Two small, black pieces of metal, almost like the hands of a clock in appearance, lay vertically at the top of the staff. I reached up to touch the black pieces of metal, quickly retracting my hand as the piece at the front moved with ease, sliding into a cross-shaped formation with a soft click.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, forcing me to shield my eyes. Buten let out a cry of alarm as the sound of creaking branches rang out in the silence. The light eventually died down, allowing us to look up at the source of the light. Buten landed on the ground, heading forwards to prod the disturbance with a stubby leg. I crouched down beside him.

"Well, I didn't expect that..." I muttered, prodding the tiny pine tree sapling before me, noting that there weren't even any scrape marks around it where the branches would have been dragging along the ground or as the massive, sturdy trunk had reduced in size.

"Buten!" Buten cried out.

"The power of the apes...?" I responded with a raised eyebrow. "So, this thing can turn back time?"

Buten nodded furiously. "Buten!"

"The Minus Staff, huh...? You heard them call it that?" I reached down to scratch Buten's head as he quickly nodded again. "This could be dangerous... but it might help if we take it with us..." I mumbled to myself, thinking of all things that I could do with it. It might offer some form of protection in the absence of Light End Dragon.

I stood back up, brushing the dirt from my clothes as Buten flapped his tiny wings, forcing himself into the air once more. I smiled in amusement as I saw that Buten was struggling to hold his body aloft with his tiny wings. Holding out my arms, I watched as Buten contemplated for a moment before settling down on them. I held him close, Buten's tiny legs sticking out over the top of my arms. He snuffled my long, orange hair before leaning back, looking up into my face.

"Buten!" he cried happily.

"You like that, huh?" I grinned, my grip tightening around the staff in my right hand.

Buten nodded, suddenly pointing towards the top of of the hill. "Buten!" he stated, wiggling his foot and flapping his wings.

"Is that where we need to go?" I asked, feeling Buten nod before I saw it.

"Buten!" he confirmed with a smile.

Clutching the staff and holding Buten close, I entered a brisk jog and made my way to the top of the hill, my stomach lurching as I considered all of the possibilities regarding what I would see when I made it to the top. Buten hadn't really told me where we were going and Light End had disappeared before she could tell me anything.

I slowed down as we neared the top, panting heavily as the steep slope took its toll on me. Buten clambered out of my arms, fluttering down to the ground and landing with a soft thud. He scampered up the hill, pointing with his stubby leg towards what was on the other side.

"Hold on," I chuckled as I hurriedly attempted to join him. "I'm coming."

I watched as the landscape at the top of the hill began to unravel before me, the dirt path leading down the other side of the hill, past rocks, rivers, trees, flowers and grass and up to the open gates of a large town, its towering buildings backed by rugged mountains.

"Is that where we need to go...?" I asked quietly despite already knowing the answer as I took in the sight before me, watching as the sunlight glinted off of the whitewashed buildings that towered above the walls.

"Bu. Buten," the tiny pig-like monster confirmed as I bent down and picked him up again.

"Well, if that's where we need to go, then we should hurry. I want to find out what's going on here... and maybe find a way back home while I'm at it..." I muttered, vaguely registering that my palm had grown sweaty in the heat, the steel of the staff threatening to slide out of my grip as I began the decent down the hill, the gates seeming larger and larger as I came closer to them, the calming sound of the babbling brook to my left calming me down as I began to consider what would happen when I reached the town.

This was the Duel Monsters Spirit World. Naturally, the residents of the town would be Duel Monsters, wouldn't they? How would they react to seeing a human like me? I wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence. Would they be kind or hostile? Maybe they would listen to reason or be kind like Buten and Light End. Either way, I found myself becoming more alert, checking the surroundings for any sign of life as we passed through the gate.

However, what I saw was not what I had been expecting. I glanced around, scanning the empty streets for any sign of movement, the only things that caught my eye being the magnificent fountain in the middle of the town and the Minus Staves littering the town, jabbed into walls, boxes and cracks in the pavement, each of the needles upon them lying horizontally.

"What happened here...?" I inquired hesitantly, noticing as Buten seemed to droop in my arms, muttering softly to himself. I frowned as I tried to make out what he was saying. "The... apes did this...?" I asked, never taking my eyes off of the streets. "What did they do? Where is everybody?"

"Oi...!" a voice suddenly hissed, trying to get our attention.

I looked around, unable to see anything. All of a sudden, I began to hear more voices from within the town, although they were too far away for me to be able to hear what they were saying. The voice rang out again and I jumped in surprise as a small boy jumped up from behind a small tower of crates and barrels to my left, waving his arms.

"Psst...! Over here...! Quickly...!" he hissed as the voices came closer, accompanied by the sound of footsteps.

Glancing down the street to look for the source of the voices, I decided that I needed to trust whoever this was and made a beeline for the crates and barrels, finding myself in a wide blind alley. The boy pulled me behind the crates and crouched down, gesturing for me to copy him. I knelt down, leaning my back against the cool wood of the crates, slightly thankful for the shade. It didn't take too long for the footsteps to reach us, the voices growing in volume until I could make them out.

"May be some left," a scratchy voice stated, the sounds of footsteps halting as the Duel Spirit spoke. "You check there. Me check here."

"Ook!" the second Duel Spirit responded in a similar voice, the noise seemingly made in acknowledgement. The footsteps began again, both seeming to go in separate directions before Buten, the boy and I were plunged into silence once more.

I heard the boy beside me let out a sigh of relief as he clambered to his feet and scampered around the crates and barrels before I could get a good look at him. I quickly pulled myself to my feet as I saw the shadow of the boy move out of view as he apparently deemed the streets safe.

Brushing myself off, Buten and I joined him and I found myself looking down at a young boy with blue eyes and long, dark green hair that fell around his shoulders, partially hidden by a tall, curving, conical purple hat with a green jewel embedded in the right side, although I couldn't help but feel that it was perhaps slightly askew as it was obviously too large for him.

Dark blue robes with black trimming and lighter blue interconnecting zigzag patterns loosely hugged his slight frame as he gripped a large, gnarled wooden staff that was dotted with small, dark green orbs, a much larger one embedded in the top of the staff which, I noted, was taller than he was. He grinned at me, pushing his hat out of his eyes, revealing arms that were loosely wrapped in purple bandages which kept two purple disks, each embedded with a green jewel, strapped to the back of his hands, almost like armour.

"Sorry about that. Zeman's monkey troops have been everywhere, lately..." he chuckled sheepishly, letting go of his hat.

"I'm sorry, but... where is this place...?" I inquired hesitantly with a nervous smile.

The boy blinked, reaching up to adjust his hat again. "What...? You don't know...?" he asked incredulously, watching as I began to fidget under his questioning gaze. He leaned forwards, taking a good look at me. "Actually... when I look closer..." He frowned as he seemed to reach a confusion. "Are you a human?" I nodded quickly, watching as a wide grin made its way onto his face and he seemed to celebrate internally. "Wow! A human! If you're here, you must have the power to see us Duel Spirits!"

"See... Duel Spirits...?" I parroted, not fully understanding. "I've never seen a Duel Spirit before... Not before coming here, anyway..."

The boy's frown quickly made its way back onto his face as he fell into deep thought. "But, humans can't come here by any other means... Perhaps it was delayed, like the King told me that it could be..."

"Um... I'm sorry, but... what's going on...?" I interrupted, horribly confused and his disjointed muttering wasn't making my situation any clearer.

"Ah! Right! Sorry! Welcome to Schwank, a town in the dimension known as Dark World, or better known to you humans as the Duel Monster's Spirit World! If you're here, you must be here for a reason!" the boy explained. "My name is Torunka. May I ask what your name is?"

"Um... It's Hikari..." I muttered, averting my eyes from Torunka as I felt my face heat up. I had never heard myself speak my own name with such uncertainty before. Nevertheless, I had to trust Light End. She seemed to know what she was talking about when she said that I was the real Hikari. She had to have a reason behind it. Taking a deep breath, I looked back at Torunka, noting that he had frozen in place. I frowned. "Is something wrong?" I asked, confused.

Suddenly, Torunka began to inspect my face, staring closely at my features, not noticing as I began to back up, slightly intimidated by his advancements. He watched me intently for a few moments but, just as quickly as this strange development came, it went as Torunka's jaw seemed to hit the floor.

I took a step backwards in slight alarm and embarrassment as Torunka got down on one knee, his head bowed, his gaze fixed on the ground as he muttered something under his breath that I could barely catch. "My apologies, honourable Lady Hikari... I did not recognise you..."

I felt my eyebrow raise in an unconscious action as Torunka seemed to bend down even further, beads of sweat running down his face and his eyes wide. Before I could question him further, Buten let out a pig-like snort and jumped from my arms, hovering just above the ground, waving his stubby arms around as if gesticulating would prove his point.

"Buten! Buten!" the angelic pig cried out as he landed, his method of gesticulating changing to tapping the ground with his forelegs.

Torunka raised his head, training his eyes on Buten as the pig-like monster continued to speak, lowering the volume of his voice and chattering too quickly for me to follow. Torunka, however, seemed to get the message, whatever that message was. He looked abruptly stood up and looked away, wiping a bead of sweat from his cheek.

"Hehe... W-wrong person, eh...? I-I've never seen the honourable Lady before..." he stammered before briefly glancing at me, his tone become defensive as he crossed his arms. "Most haven't, y'know...! You can't blame me...!"

"I-it doesn't matter..." I laughed nervously, pushing what he had just said to the back of my mind for his benefit, never mind my own. "But... what's going on here...?"

I felt a trail of sweat run down my cheek as Torunka's arms dropped to his side, his expression suddenly becoming more serious than I would expect to see from a child. His eyes met mine, all hesitation and embarrassment suddenly gone as he gripped his staff tightly, almost as if he was doing so in anger.

"Zeman the Ape King..." Torunka muttered, his eyes narrowing. "He's taken over Dark World…"

"Zeman… the Ape King…?" I slowly repeated. "I thought that the king was a human…"

Without warning, Torunka suddenly threw back his head and laughed mirthlessly, although he seemed to regret this moments later as his hat began to slide off his head. I cocked my head in confusion as the child struggled to adjust his hat, his eyes narrowing again as he focused on me again, his hat still slightly askew.

"Zeman is not the king. He will never be the king. The Supreme King will never bow to such a lowlife," Torunka grumbled. "No… Zeman is an invader who caught our world off guard with his trickery… The monkey troops invaded us while the King was preoccupied with other important matters… We didn't stand a chance against their strange magic… He can turn back time and speed it up again on a whim and used the same magic to seal the other Duel Spirits in stone… I'm one of the last Duel Spirits left…"

"That… must be difficult…" I admitted, trying to imagine the situation.

"But, forget that!" Torunka suddenly exclaimed. "No human has ever come to the Spirit World without a reason! You can Duel, right?! With the Duel Spirits that you command, we may be able to overpower the Ape King! You'll help us, right?!" Taken aback, I opened my mouth to answer, but the child quickly cut me off again. "Just… one last thing…" he muttered, averting his gaze.

"W-what…?" I stammered, confused and perhaps a little scared.

"Please…" Torunka's eyes met mine again, tears forming at the corners. Pangs of concern forced me to focus on him and I stood my ground. "Please…" he repeated. "Please save Luna…"


End file.
